A Howling Heart
Chapter sixty-six

The Amoux territory is colossal. We move quickly through an unending landscape of woods and hills, but even after a substantial amount of time, we are not to our destiny.

My nerves are all but shot. I am on the edge, waiting for one of the man rogues he's adopted into this pack to snap and attack. They don't, but the eyes I score from each wolf I pass lining our path are unwelcoming. As would it be if any of them were on our side, I suppose.

The silence stretching between Austin and myself feels like a personal torture device ready to drive me mad.

I want to know where my daughter is, and I want to know now, but I bite my tongue. I can't demand when I'm not in the upper hand, although making demands might give the illusion that I am, and it may just work out in my favor.

I decide to test it out as we stop at the bottom of another hill. A pair of shorts and a T-shirt are tossed at me. I catch them, shove my legs quickly into them, and then pull the shirt over my head as Austin does the same.

"I want to know where my daughter and mother-in-law are," I demand, refusing to move forward even after he begins walking. The growls behind me alert him of my disobedience.

Austin doesn't stop walking. "You either follow, or you can find your way out, and you'll never see them again."

"You do have them!" I snarl and charge forward, only to be cut off by three giant wolves. "I swear to God, I will kill you if one ounce of harm befalls them!"

Austin stops and turns to look at me with sincerity. "What do you think this is, Matias?" He widens his arms. "Do you think I would do this over some menial thing with a pack as large and powerful as mine? To hold your daughter and mother- in-law over your head and watch you jump and jump for them just to snatch them away again? Do you think this is some little game I've concocted to see you hurting?"

I'm fuming with each word out of his mouth because that's exactly what I think this is. I think it's a power grab. A way to assert his dominance, even though we have not had issues in a while aside from Esai.

"Well then, Austin, enlighten me on what the hell this is? My daughter disappears an hour after my wife has given birth, my mate has been separated from a child she doesn't even know is still alive, she's out of her mind, and I will kill just to get that child returned to her. If you were a father, you'd understand!"

A dark expression flickers across his face before he shakes his head, and it's gone. "Well, news flash, Matias, your pack isn't that important or a threat. I don't waste my resources on a war that I can win in five minutes."

I snarl and lunge at him, shifting back into my wolf form after having been disrespected for the last time.

"Don't!" Austin screams at his pack members, ready to pounce on me. He squares his shoulders, trying to appear dominant in human form, but I don't care. I just want to take a bite out of him for running his mouth.

I manage to nip his shoulder, only for him to send a painful blow to my jaw, sending me flying even in my most potent form. I slam into a small cluster of wolves like a bowling ball being tossed with brute force against some pins, and when I climb up, the confidence in me wavers slightly, but the possessiveness of a father lifts me up and pushes me forward.

"We are wasting time!" Austin snarls at me while cracking his knuckles. "Do you want to go another round and get your jaw broken this time, or can we both be leaders and continue?"

That infuriates me even more, but as I lunge, I hear Mason's howl. I halt.

'Matias?' Mason's voice rings in my head. 'Matias, do you need aid?'

Austin nods in the direction I know Mason is coming from based on his howls.

'If Fae doesn't confirm your safety, she will start a war with the Amoux!'

I shift back immediately and hold up a hand to Austin. "Stop. My mate sent him. If she doesn't get confirmation of my safety, you and I will have a war regardless of my opinion on it."

A smirk twitches at the corner of Austin's lip before he nods. "Let the wolf through," he demands to those around him. The wolves begin howling, signaling Mason's safe passage.

Mason is the fastest wolf in our pack. He makes what we've just trekked seem like light work. A minute after I heard him, he managed to catch up with us. He must have evaded some of their patrolmen. They were so focused on me being a threat, even being as large and intimidating as a group, that they let one of mine slip beneath their noses. I'd smile if my world wasn't crashing down around me.

Mason shifts into human form and stops a few feet before me. "Matias." He nods. "Good to see you alive."

"You too," I reply. "How is Fae?"

Mason's expression falls. "She's waiting for her family's return," he responded curtly while scanning the crowd of Amoux. "Do you have any leads on Mariah and the baby?"

I glance at Austin, glaring briefly before looking back at Mason. "They know where she is."

"You were in on it," Mason says through a clenched jaw.

Austin sighs. "Let the men discuss business." He waves a dismissive hand at Mason. "You've seen he's alive. Time to go."

Wolves start growling.

I turn to continue following Austin, but Mason grabs my arm. "Wait! I need an ETA on your return."

I quirk an eyebrow at Austin, whose eyes narrow. "It will all depend on his reaction to what I will tell him."

"What will depend?" I answer, shaking my arm loose from Mason's hold.

"Whether you return or not."

His subtle threat causes Mason to stomp forward toward him.

I stop Mason with a hand on his shoulder. "Enough. Just tell Fae I will be home when business is done. Tell her I love her and that everything is going to be okay." The sternness in my voice has Mason's submission returning. "Yes, Alpha." I'm thankful that when Mason leaves, Austin's back will be to me again. I don't want anyone to see the worry that is beginning to plague me.

I don't see how this is going to go in our favor.